Jaxon's Surgery

Well this post is long over due. So many people offered prayers, love, support and concern for Jaxon and our family during his surgery and I know that they are waiting patiently, (well maybe not patiently) for an update. Most of you know that Jaxon was diagnosed with Positional Plagiocephaly when he was about 4 months old. So we initially started with helmet therapy when he was about 5 months. All along I had felt like there was something more going on and it was in fact true. He really had a suture in his skull that had fused prematurely. So needless to say we were told that our beautiful little boy would need to have Cranial vault surgery. This would require Jaxon to be cut from ear to ear and have the back of his skull removed and then put back together. It was a very scary time for us. We sought a second opinion in SLC at Primary Children's Hospital, but ultimately felt like we needed to be here. We met with the Cranial Facial Plastic Surgeon and Neurosurgeon here and really felt like the right thing for Jaxon would be to have the surgery done here. So our little guy had surgery on November 24, 2008. It was probably one of the longest days of our lives. We had to have Jaxon at the hospital at 6 am. Needless to say, he must have known something was happening, because he was up all night and finally at around 4 am I got up and decided to get ready. We arrived at the hospital and got Jaxon registered and then headed down to the surgery floor. Once we took him into the room it was becoming all too real. Up until this point I had not shed a tear. I don't know if it is the mother in me feeling like I had to be strong and not let anyone see my cry, but once they took Jaxon from us to the operating room I could not hold back the tears. The fear of not knowing how he was doing was hard for both Jeff and I. They took him into the OR at about 8 am. Dr. Cherny the Neurosurgeon was great at having someone call us about ever hour to let us know how things were going. He was done around 1 pm and was able to come and talk with us. It was a relief to know that Jaxon was doing well. Then the final part of the surgery was for the Cranial Facial Plastic Surgeon to do his part and put the skull back together. It was a very long and stressful day to say the least, but finally at around 3pm, Dr. Griffiths came out and told us that all had gone well. I guess the reason it took so long was because he had to hand suture most of the skull back together instead of using screws and plates. The skull was very thick in some areas and then very thin in others, so he really took his time and made sure it was done right. We finally were able to see Jaxon around 3:30 or 4. They took him up to the PICU and he was there for the first night. They basically just kept him sedated and comfortable the first night.

This is a photo of Jaxon the night before the surgery.

Here is is in the Pre-OP room before they gave him a little medicine so he would not remember when they took him to the OR and before they put him under.

Jaxon playing with the face mask

A picture of Jeff and I with Jaxon just before they took him to the OR.

Mommy and Jaxon

Here are some photos of Jaxon in the PICU after surgery

Notice the TV remote/with sound in the photo. They actually had a channel in the hospital of fish in the ocean, so I decided to leave it on in his bead because he seemed to enjoy the sound of the bubbles. He was pretty restless even with the sedation. Anything we can try to soothe our little ones !!

Here are some photos of our little man the day after surgery. They were surprised that he was doing so well. One tough little guy !!

He had some rough moments but for the most part he handled everything pretty well considering.

Here is a photo of Jaxon and Dr. Cherny the Neurosurgeon. He is such and amazing and skilled physician and we are so glad that he took such good care of Jaxon.

Day 2 after surgeryThey had these great little wagons that you could take the kids for walks in. It was great to be able to pull him around the hospital. It is hard to contain an 11 1/2 month old in a crib all day long. So Jeff piled up the pillows and made sure that Jaxon could not bump his head and we were off on an adventure around the hospital. We actually ran into the volunteers with the Therapy dogs, I of course did not have my camera, but Jaxon and Kaden both loved the dogs.

Day 3 after surgery -- Here are some photos of Jaxon and Papa Keith. Jeff's parents were able to come out and stay with us for about 3 weeks during this whole process. It was a great blessing to have them here and know that they would be able to care for Kaden and make sure his days were somewhat normal while all of this was going on. They were also a great help when we finally brought Jaxon home.

Next Post ....Thanksgiving !!! The day we were able to take Jaxon home. What a great day !!

I really am ALIVE....

I feel like I have been a hermit as of late. The weather has been soo... COLD and so we have been stuck in the house for like forever !! I know many people have been wondering if I fell of the face of the earth or what? Well I am alive and waiting impatiently for some WARM weather. I really need to get some sunshine soon, I don't know about you, but this weather is really depressing. I heard today that you need to have at least 15 hours a year in the sun without sunscreen, women especially are lacking in vitamin B and we need our DAMN sunlight already !!! However, Mr. Groundhog saw his darn shadow yesterday so unfortunately we are going to have to face the dreaded 6 more weeks of this winter weather. The only good news is that today we at least will see the bright cheerful SUN and not be in another inversion. Yippie !!!

Jeff is actually out of town on business, so I am going to try and get some of my much needed updating to the BLOG done. With him working from home the only time I get a chance to get in the office is either late at night after the kids are in bed. Which, selfishly is my only time to sit down and just relax. Or early in the morning, and I would rather be sleeping in, if that is really possible with kids !!

So with much to say and BLOG about, I better get busy !!!! More to come soon......

GRATEFUL...

All I can say is the feeling I have had lately is that of being......

• Grateful for a family that loves and supports me
• Grateful for a husband who is my best friend, supports me and loves me unconditionally
• Grateful for my wonderful husband that provides a warm and comfortable place for our family to live
• Grateful that I am able to stay at home with my beautiful little boys (thanks to my husband)
• Grateful for wonderful parents and in laws that would do anything for our family
• Grateful for our extended family and their love, support and prayers
• Grateful for friends that are always there for me, especially when I am feeling overwhelmed
• Grateful for the prayers that everyone has offered on behalf of Jaxon, his surgeons and our family
• Grateful for the blessing that Todd was able to give Jaxon in preparation for his surgery
• Grateful that I have been given the opportunity to be a mother to Kaden and Jaxon and a wife to Jeff. I feel at times that I take that for granted, when the kids are screaming and out of control and I am stressed out, but truly I would not trade it for anything.

The other day Jeff and I were laying on the floor playing with the boys and I just had to stop and look at my family and think of how very GRATEFUL and lucky I am to have such a beautiful family. Kaden was loving on Jaxon and they were both crawling all over us, but it was the best feeling knowing that my boys love us and each other and that even though we are going through a rough time right now I have to have FAITH that everything will work out.

SO... I Hope and I Pray that Jaxon will be blessed by Heavenly Father with skilled surgeons and with health and strength during his surgery and that Jeff and I will be able to be strong for him as well.

GRATEFUL is all I can say !!!

Lots of Updating to do

I just realized that I have not updated my blog for almost a month. I cannot believe that it has been that long. We took a visit to NE to visit family for a couple of weeks and I also spent some time at taking care of Michelle's kids. We have also been very busy with Halloween parties and trick or treating with the kids as well as some not so great news about Jaxon. So needless to say I have lots of catching up to do. More to follow......

Partners in Crime

One night while I was watching Michelle's kids, I heard a cry come from Branton's room. I quickly went in to see what was wrong... He said that his legs were hurting. I took him into the bathroom to see what was wrong. I asked him if I kissed the leg would it make it better, his reply, through tears, NO, I need strawberry milk !! So after the kisses, I heard another little person come out of his room, Kaden. He too was upset and said: Mom my lips hurt will you kiss them, and then the next thing out of his mouth, Mom, I need chocolate milk !! So needless to say, both of the little boys and I were in the kitchen at about midnight making Branton strawberry milk and Kaden chocolate. They really know how to MILK it, no pun intended !! I had to take pictures of the two silly little boys, it was just one of those moments ya know !!

Two little buddies !!

They are so silly together !!

All I can say is that I am so glad that they are such great friends. They played great together and really are the best of friends, in case you couldn't tell. They really are so silly !! :)

Tired...

The other day I was trying to hold Jaxon off on his morning nap so I could go and pick up Kaden from Preschool. He was in the living room playing and I walked into the other room for a minute and when I came back in this is what I found.....

Do you think someone was tired ???

Being the good mother I am, I thought it was a great photo op!!

He looks so peaceful, wish he would sleep like this all.... night .... long. He is still waking up at least 2or 3 times a night. Maybe one day soon we can change that !! He is so stinkin' cute !! :)

Someones trying to crawl...

Well Jaxon has been trying to crawl for at least the last month or so. He initially would scoot on his back and arch his back with his head going upward. Now he is at least doing a little army crawl and getting on his hands and knees and also in the push up position. Here are a couple of pictures of him trying and getting frustrated with the whole crawl idea !!

Here I go,on my knees...

Now I'm in starting to get into a push up...

Like my push up...

Now I am back to my hands and knees...

Does anyone think I look like my MOMMY???

Maybe I'll get this crawling thing down one of these days.. practice... practice... practice... :)

My little cowboy !!

A couple of weeks ago Kaden had "Western Days" at Preschool. So the first thing we did before school was get our "Cowboy" gear on. I also decided that it would be a good idea to make him have a mustache and goatee. He looked absolutely adorable. As I dropped him off at school and the teacher got him out, I heard several of them saying "Look at his cute mustache, I love it", and then gave me a thumbs up !! It made me smile. I am so glad that we enrolled him in Challenger. I was able to go to the school later that morning and participate in a little hoe down and some fun activities in his classroom. He kind of acted a little clingy once I got there, but Ms. Alicia assured me that he was pulling one over on me, and that he definitely participates in the class. He kept asking me if I was going to leave. I assured him that I was going to stay until his class was over. When we were walking out down the hall of the school. Kaden looked up at me and said, "Mom, I LOVE my school", I replied, I'm really glad you love it honey !! I am so glad that he is having such a good experience with school. It is so much fun to hear about his day and all of the new things he is learning in school. It is also hard to imagine that he is growing up so fast. I often think I should cherish these moments more often. Sometimes it is hard to remember that he will not always want my attention and want to do everything with me. So my goal is to try and be more present and remember that I need to cherish all of these times, because they will not last forever !! I am also hoping that I will be able to leave the house at some point and time without him having a total meltdown !! :) Jeff thinks Kaden is a mommas boy, I quickly reminded him that he is one too !! :) Nothing wrong with little boys loving their mommies or big ones for that matter !! Here are some cute pictures of Kaden in his cowboy gear!

Reach for the sky "Partner" !! What a cute little "Cowboy !! :

Here is a picture of Kaden in his classroom and one in the multipurpose room.

I have a new JOB !!

I am now a personal assistant !! Yes, I know, when do I find the time and energy to be a mom, play with my kids, feed the kids and husband, do the dishes, clean the house, do the laundry, take Kaden to preschool, Jaxon to Dr appointments, go to the gym, and still be a personal assistant !! Well let me tell you, I needed to make a little extra money to pay for that great Preschool we put Kaden in and support my husbands many extra curricular activities (addictions), like golfing, mountain biking, fly fishing, road biking, hunting, and so on... I'm sure you get the picture. So I decided to get a job on top of everything else. My boss is pretty demanding. He is insistant on having his coffee nice and hot, with flavored creamer first thing in the morning. He also likes to have his breakfast brought to his office, some days it is eggs, bacon, toast, juice, etc. You would think he is at a 5 star hotel or something. I don't know about you, but most companies I have worked for in the past do not require so much from their personal assistants. I am trying to see the silver lining in the job, I know there must be one. I just thought of one: I don't have to leave the house and drive to my job and I don't have to pay for a babysitter. I can set my own hours, I do get to come and go as I would like, with the exception of having to prepare his lunch for him as well, every day !! In case you have not guessed yet, Jeff is now working from HOME !! YIKES !! It has been since the end of August and to say the least, it has definitely been an adjustment. Kaden thinks he always needs to be in the office working with daddy, so I try and keep him as busy as I can. It is hard to make sure that the boys are quiet, so needless to say, we spend a lot of time in the playroom. And if Jaxon is screaming for more than a few minutes, (while I am doing laundry, cleaning, etc) Jeff comes upstairs to see what it happening. Just my little love bug having a melt down if he can't see me for ONE minute. He is definitely going through separation anxiety for sure !! With that said, I need to get a routine down so that I don't feel like we have to be sequestered upstairs all day long. Especially with the winter months approaching !! Wish me Luck !!

Kaden caught his first fish !!!

Jeff, Kaden and I decided to go fishing while we were at Tamarack. They had a small fly fishing pond that was actually on the golf course. So we decided that Kaden and Daddy would have a great time and I was basically along for the photo ops. Jeff had gotten Kaden a fishing pole before we left and he of course was showing Kaden how to use it the night before. He of course had his fly rod out and was practicing as well. He has not fished since we lived in Michigan, which is going on four years. We had to trek a little ways through the brush to get to the pond, but it was worth it. Except for the fact that Kaden did not like his regular little cheap rod, (spinner fishing) he wanted to use Daddy's fly rod. So, Jeff got it ready and with his first cast they had a fish, only to loose it. Second cast, what do ya know, a fish. Kaden was so excited to catch a fish for the first time. He even reeled it in with Jeff's help. He was a little confused as to why we had to but it back. He kept telling me that we have to "CHOP" his head off and eat him !! It was so much fun to be able to see Jeff and Kaden together. I don't know who was more excited, Kaden or Jeff. Not too bad for not fishing in 4 years. However, I don't think he got another fish the rest of the time.

Here are some great photos of Jeff and Kaden fishing together !! I am glad that Jeff will be able to share all of these wonderful "ADVENTURES" (as Kaden would say), together with both of the boys. Maybe they will let mom tag a long every once in a while !!